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Real Food, Naturally: E.Coli from Corn?
It's possible
by Glen Boudreaux, Jolie Vue Farms
The agricultural community is in a swirl over the mystery of how spinach, even spinach grown on organic farms, could have been infected with the virulent form of E.coli 0157.H7. Before we discuss the possible sources, an understanding of E.coli in general is warranted. (My source for this article is Nina Planck, author of Real Food: What to Eat and Why).
E.coli is a bacteria found in the intestinal tract of ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, deer, and so on. While we certainly don't encourage it, the plain vanilla E.coli bacteria is not usually harmful to us. Our systems can attack it and kill it. It is the 0157.H7 form of E.coli that is so acidic that it overpowers our own digestive process.
Where is 0157 found? One known source is the intestinal tract of feedlot beef that are being "finished off" on corn (no pun intended). In fact, if you take feedlot cattle and change their diet to hay for just one week, 0157 is reduced by 1000%. So they have proven the link between corn-fed beef and 0157 twice, by measuring its proliferation when the cattle are changed from grass to corn, and then its reduction when the cattle are switched from corn back to grass.
So how does this bacteria find its way into our spinach? Manure in feedlots is managed by draining it downhill into lagoons. That's not to say that all manure is so managed. Some of it trickles down through the soil into the water sands, or will roll downhill into our rivers and creeks. That which is captured in the lagoon will leak, sooner or later, out of the lagoon, and also into the water supply by the same routes. When it reaches the spinach farm below, either because it drifted downhill along the surface or came up through the farm's irrigation system, it can infect the spinach. So there it is, the possible link between corn and E.coli 0157.H7
Our system is crumbling under the decades-long confinement of animals, the feeding of unnatural substances, and the adulteration of our environment with various poisons. We need to get back to nature as soon as possible. Support that transition by supporting your farmers at the Houston Farmers Market.
Yours in the local harvest, 1000s of miles fresher,
Glen Boudreaux
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